


Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby

by Holtzmannsgirlfriend



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, childhood AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-05 03:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holtzmannsgirlfriend/pseuds/Holtzmannsgirlfriend
Summary: Baby Holtz and baby Erin find each other just as they're losing hope





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One of the pieces I wrote for Holtzbert week inspired me to write this!
> 
> Title is from the song by Cigarettes After Sex :)

Jillian Holtzmann doesn't think she's weird, but all the other kids do. When they tell her she's an alien or call her "Freakazoid" all she can do is cock her head to the side and frown because she really doesn't understand what's so wrong with her.

So she takes the classroom radio apart sometimes, it's fun! And she always wears her dad's yellow safety glasses to school, but her eyes hurt when she doesn't! Maybe she talks about aliens and space a lot, but why wouldn't she? It's all so fascinating!

But she's nice! She always says hello when she sees her classmates on the playground, and she lends Thomas Hart her favorite pencil whenever he leans across the aisle and asks to borrow one. She always tries to be the nicest, friendliest person she can be. But for some reason she can't understand, it's never enough. They still never want to be her friend.

She ponders this as she walks home from school, hands stuffed in the front pockets of her jeans and her eyes trained on the sidewalk. Occasionally other kids will pass by on bikes and skateboards, all of them laughing and hollering at some joke Jillian will never be included in, and she sighs to herself because she wants that so bad. She would trade all of her favorite tools and the soldering kit her mom bought her last Christmas for just one single friend.

***

"Momma, am I weird?"

"Now why on Earth would you think that?"

"Cause the kids at school say I am, I guess."

Suddenly self-conscious, she avoids her mother's gaze by staring at the countertop in front of her, tracing its pattern with her finger.

"Well, the kids at school are assholes, Jill. Don't ever listen to the things they say because they're full of it," she says sternly, placing a tube of Pringles in front of the 7-year-old.

Jillian laughs and flicks the plastic cap off of the tube with her thumb. She loved it when adults cussed around her. She bites into a chip and frowns.

"But if I'm not weird then how come no one wants to be my friend?"

"We're friends, aren't we?" she smiles and cups Jillian's cheek. Jillian shakes her head.

"Mom's don't count. I mean real friends! The kind that walks home from school with you and calls you on the phone and has sleepovers!"

She puts the lid back on the pringles and goes back to tracing patterns on the counter with her finger, her appetite suddenly gone.

Her mother smiles sadly and puts her arm around Jillian's shoulders.

"Jill, baby, I promise you'll have that someday. It won't always be this way. "

She nods and rests against her mother.

"Moms never lie," she thinks to herself with a sigh.

_____________________________

Erin Gilbert sat quietly in the backseat during the drive from Washington. She'd stuffed her backpack with books to keep her occupied during the trip, but for the last 100 or so miles, she had been too nervous to read.

Things were going to be different in Michigan, at least that's what her mom had told her. The kids at her new school would be nicer, she'd make friends, and everything was going to be great for the first time in a long time. And she believed that...mostly.

She couldn't help but worry. That was her nature, after all. For as long as she could remember she'd been small and filled with worry. Worried about her parents, worried about her cat that went to live on a farm in Colorado, worried about her future, worried about the honey bee population...

_Welcome to Battle Creek_

Her stomach flutters as she reads the sign.

She presses her face to the window and watches the buildings and people, worries about them. Her father clears his throat.

"Look, Er! There's where you'll be going to school!"

Erin sucks in her stomach in an effort to calm the butterflies and glances out the opposite window at a large brick building.

_Prarieview Elementary School -- Home of the Spartans!_

It was an old 2-storey building, the brown color of the bricks slowly eroding to bone white. The cloudy weather made it seem so gloomy that Erin wondered if it housed some sinister Disney villain.

"It looks scary." she tells her father, still staring out the window. Her parents laugh and shake their heads.

"Oh, honey, it's a great school! Wonderful reviews. You'll be very happy there."

She nods in reply and cranes her head to watch the building disappear, replaced by rows and rows of identical houses.

The car turns into the driveway of their new home and Erin wearily climbs out from the backseat, slinging her backpack full of books over her shoulder. She glances to the house next door to see an old woman glaring as she sweeps her driveway.

Quickly turning back to her parents, she brushes it off and grabs a box from the trunk.

Taking a deep breath, she walks through the front door.

_Things will be different here_

_I hope_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took two months, but I finally finished!

After spending the entire five-minute drive to school doing her breathing exercises, Erin cautiously opened the car door and stepped out into the parking lot, bouncing one leg nervously as she waited for her mom to do the same.

"You'll be fine, Erin. It's just school!" her mother says with a smile, pushing the car door closed with a swing of her hip.  
"I know, mom." she mumbles.

She follows closely behind and stares at her feet as they walk towards the building, a twinge of nervousness shuddering through her as she notices the freshly paved blacktop of the parking lot turn into the old, chipped cement of the sidewalk that leads to the main office. She feels it again when she sees the cement turn into blue and white tile.

Erin hates the tile... the color of it, the pattern. She hates the way it reminds her of Trista Yeager cornering her in the girl's bathroom and calling her names until she couldn't help but cry.  
And she hates the smell. Every school smells the same, like disinfectant and paper. That smell never failed to make her stomach hurt.

She busies herself by counting the scuff marks in each square of tile and wringing her hands, and once the scuff marks exceed her line of vision she resorts to trying to remember all the lyrics to the B-52's song her parents sing to each other sometimes. She can't remember any lyrics, she thinks the butterflies in her stomach must have chased them straight out of her brain.

There's a clock on the wall that seems to tick awful loudly, the sound only adding to her nerves. Erin moves behind her mother, staring aimlessly at the back of her shirt as she fills out paperwork. She makes a game out of finding shapes and patterns in the wrinkles of it.  
The principal walks out from behind the counter and places a hand on Erin's shoulder.

"Okay, I'll take it from here," he tells Mrs. Gilbert with a smile.  
Her mother ruffles her hair slightly and smiles. "You're going to have a great day, okay Er? Don't worry yourself."  
"Okay, mom."

Mrs. Gilbert gives Erin another wide smile and leaves. The principle nudges Erin's shoulder slightly and points forward. "Let's go see your new classroom, shall we?"

She wanted to say no. She wanted to demand that he call her mother and tell her to come pick her up **right now**. But she just nods instead.  
As they walk she repeats the mantra she's been repeating to herself since the move from Washington.

_Things will be different here_  
_It's gonna be okay this time_

_________________________________________

"Jillian, what did I tell you about taking apart the radio?" the teacher asked impatiently, hands crossed against her front.  
"Not to do it." She mumbles back, eyes on the floor.

When her parents caught her taking things apart at home they only tilted their heads and smiled, sometimes her dad even offered to help. But when Ms. Sullivan caught her, she was angry.

Jillian was sitting behind a bookcase the first time, a screwdriver in one hand and a speaker in the other, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. She was so immersed in the tangle of wires and metal that she didn't even hear Ms. Sullivan approaching. When she started yelling Jillian was so startled that she almost threw the speaker. At least she didn't yell this time.

"Then why did you take the radio apart again?"  
  
"Because I wanted to look at the circuit board..." She brushes the hair out from in front of her eyes and looks down at her feet.

Ms. Sullivan pinched the bridge of her nose and put a hand on Jillian's shoulder.

"Jillian, I know that you're curious but you can't keep taking apart everything you see!"

"Why not? I put it back together!"

She opens her mouth to speak again, but instead only sighs before kneeling down in front of Jillian and holding out her hand.  
"Give me the screwdriver."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Now, Jillian."

Jillian huffs and pulls the screwdriver from the back pocket of her overalls, placing it in the older woman's hand with an exasperated sigh.  
  
"Fine."

She shoves her hands into the front pockets of her overalls and begins the walk back to her desk, focusing her eyes on the ugly classroom carpet and singing the theme song from Magic School Bus as loud as she can in her head to drown out the snickers of her classmates.

"Hey, nerd, nice going!"

 _Cruisin' on down Main Street_  
_You're relaxed and feelin' good_  
_Next thing that you know you're seein' _  
_Octopus in the neighborhood! _____

_____ _

 

"Haha! They finally took Freakazoid's screwdriver away! How's she gonna take apart her desk now?"

 _Surfin' on a sound wave_  
_Swingin' through the stars_  
_Take a left at your intestine _  
_Take your second right past Mars. _____

_____ _

She sits down at her desk with a chuckle, thinking about how cool it would be if Mars was in her intestines, the mockery from her classmates already forgotten.

____

__

____

_________________________________________

____

__  
__  


Jillian was drawing UFOs on her desk when the principal walked in.

____

Immediately she puts her head down and chews her thumb nail. The last time Principal Andrews was in the classroom it was to yell at Jillian for unscrewing the leg of Ms. Sullivan's desk and pretending it was a light saber. She was afraid he was back to yell at her over the radio this time until she noticed a small brunette girl nervously peering around him as he spoke to the teacher.

____

Jillian sighs in relief as the principal leaves the classroom. She watches as Ms. Sullivan places her hands on the girl's shoulders and guides her to the front of the room.

____

"Class, we have a new student joining us today! Say hello to Erin!"

____

"Hi, Erin." they repeat in unison.

____

The brunette doesn't reply, only casts a small smile before looking nervously back to the teacher.

____

"Erin, can you tell us three facts about yourself?", the teacher asks, smiling encouragingly.

____

Jillian watches as Erin's eyes widen at the question, she notices how uncomfortable the girl looks and suddenly feels sorry for her. She hated having to do introductions on the first day of school too.

____

"Um...o-okay," she finally mutters. "M-my name is Erin Gilbert, I'm from Washington, and...I want to be a scientist when I grow up."

____

The last fact earned rude snickers from a few of the kids in the classroom.

____

"Hey, Freakazoid," Tommy Moreno says in Jillian's direction, "looks like there's a new nerd in class to keep you company!"

____

The classroom erupted in laughter and Jillian rolled her eyes and brushed it off until she noticed the look of utter panic on the new girl's face. Suddenly she felt the need to be brave.

____

"Hey Tommy," Jillian turns to face him. "How about you shut up, jerk! For your information science is super cool!"

____

Tommy only scoffs in reply, and with that Jillian turns her attention back to Erin, happy to see that she looks slightly less panicked now. Jillian just rests her chin in her hand and smiles at Erin.

____

After giving Tommy a warning, Ms. Sullivan guides Erin to the empty desk next to Jillian. Erin sits and shoves her backpack under the desk, immediately bringing her hands back up to the top of the desk only to rub them together nervously.

____

Jillian turns to her and extends her hand. "You can call me Holtzmann," she says, punctuating it with a wink. "Or Holtz. That's what my dad calls me."  
Erin slowly puts her hand in Holtzmann's. "You can call me Erin, I guess, 'cause that's my name."

____

She smiles brightly at Erin, almost forgetting to release her grip on the new girl's hand.  
"Okie dokie, Erin."

____

Erin gives back a small smile but quickly drops it as she looks to her desk.

____

"Why aren't you upset?" she asks. Holtzmann tilts her head slightly and furrows her eyebrows in confusion.

____

"Upset about what?"

____

"They called you Freakazoid. They said we're nerds."  
Holtz's smile fell when she noticed the look on Erin's face, as if she was seconds away from crying.

____

"My mom said not to listen to them because they're all assholes. So I don't." She shrugs, laughing a little at the look of shock on Erin's face.

____

Erin coughs and turns around in her chair to face the front of the classroom. "You shouldn't swear. My mom says it's unladylike."  
Holtzmann laughs and rests her arms behind her head. She tilts back in her chair and looks toward the ceiling before a thought crosses her mind. She slams her chair back down excitedly. Erin jumps.

____

"Hey, Erin," she shifts so she's sitting on her knees in the chair, "do you believe in aliens?"

____

She purses her lips in thought. "Well...I guess, yeah. Space is really big. Something else is probably out there."

____

"Something is definitely out there!" Holtz says excitedly. A giant smile splits her face and only grows wider when Erin laughs. The other kids laugh at her too when she talks about aliens, but it feels different when Erin does. It doesn't feel mean...it feels friendly.

____

"Do you wanna sit with me at lunch? I know a secret spot, nobody will bother us there. We can talk about aliens and science and Bill Nye and space!"

____

Erin thinks for a minute and smiles, nodding her head. "Um...yeah. Okay."

____

Holtzmann smiles. "Excellent."

____


End file.
